


Practical Skills

by faithharkness



Series: Diversions [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: AU-everybody lives, F/M, Flirting, Jess Pava doesn't appear but is very much a part of this, Partial Nudity, Unresolved Sexual Tension, beating up on Poe like this is too much fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 21:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5801239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithharkness/pseuds/faithharkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey grew up on a desert planet, so she is lacking a certain practical skill:  swimming.  Poe offers to help her out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Practical Skills

Rey lifted an eyebrow, her entire demeanor screaming skepticism. “And people do this on purpose? For fun?”

“Yeah!” Poe replied. “Wait, I’m explaining it wrong,” he said, keying in to her reaction.

“No, no, please continue. You were saying how people willingly jump into that large body of water and flail around to stay afloat. And they call it fun.”

“It’s very refreshing. Soaking in the moisture, letting it surround you and wash away your cares.”

“Like in the shower?” she inquired.

 _Don’t think about her in the shower. Don’t think about her naked in the shower. Don’t think about her naked, taking a steamy shower._ He coughed. “Sort of? It’s more immersive. More like a warm bath.”

“What’s a warm bath?”

Poe almost choked on his tongue. “So a conversation for another day. And another person. Who is not me. Perhaps the General? Yeah, General Organa would be _great_ with that question.”

She looked from the small lake fed by the waterfall back to him. “Is this a prank?”

“What? No!”

Rey folded her arms over her chest and stared at him. 

“Okay, let’s look at this another way. It’s a skill you should have. You may have to ditch transport in a body of water and you’ll need to be able to stay alive,” he reasoned.

“That makes sense. What do we need to do?”

When he woke up that morning, taking her for a walk in the forest to get her mind off of Finn’s unchanging, unconscious state had seemed like a good idea. They could talk without the specter of what happened at Starkiller hanging so heavily over them. He was now realizing that, as usual, he had not thought it all the way through. He could practically _feel_ Jessika smacking him up the back of his head.

“Poe?”

Poe shook his head, realizing she had been staring at him as his mind wandered.

“Right. Well, it’s a warm day and I brought towels in my duffel, but we should probably still—oh, okay, you’ve got the idea,” he said, watching her kick off her boots and grab the hem of her shirt to pull it off. He closed his eyes quickly before she started pulling the shirt up.

“Please tell me you’re wearing undergarments!” It was a valid concern; he had no idea what constituted proper attire on a desert planet.

“Of course,” she replied, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

“Good. That’s good,” he said. He sternly reminded himself that she spent most of her free time learning the ins and outs of the _Millennium Falcon_ under the watchful eye of Han Solo.

“Aren’t you going to strip down?”

“What?” he asked, looking at her. She was wearing undergarments—a cropped black tank and matching underpants. Thank the Maker they weren’t flesh-toned; his brain couldn’t have survived flesh-toned.

She waved a hand at his fully-clothed form. “The longer you stay dressed, the more I’m starting to think this is an elaborate prank you and Jess came up with.”

“Right! Sorry. Not a prank,” he repeated, quickly taking off his boots and stripping off his shirt.

“Oh,” Rey said.

Poe froze, his hands on the fastener of his pants. He looked up and saw her staring at his bare chest. He remembered, suddenly and sharply, that she had lived alone on a desert planet. 

“I can put it back on.”

“Nonsense,” she said, lifting her chin. “If I’m going to learn, I’m going to be taught properly.”

He laughed. “Oh, I would pay good credits to hear you say that to Master Skywalker.”

“Maybe I will. But, first, don’t you think it would be a good idea to finish teaching me to swim? In case he tosses me into a lake for my impertinence?”

“Considering how much time you spend with Jess, that is a very real possibility,” he said, stripping down to his shorts.

She smacked his arm before walking to the water’s edge.

He watched with a smile as she stepped into the water and wiggled her toes. 

“It’s not as cold as I thought it would be,” she said.

“Let’s get in until we’re about waist deep and we can get started.”

She reached out and took his hand as they walked forward. “Just in case,” she said with a smile. “I’ve learned from the refresher that water is slippery.”

Poe tried very hard to think non-slippery thoughts as they waded further into the water.

“This is good,” he said, once the water reached halfway up Rey’s abdomen. It hid her toned legs and delectable belly button, so he only had to worry about keeping his eyes away from one body part. Thank the Maker for small favors.

“Well?” she prompted after a few moments. She spread her arms out. “I put myself in your capable hands, oh wise teacher.”

“One of these days, spending so much time with Jess is going to get you in trouble,” he said, his voice just this side of rough.

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” she said, with a terrible forgery of a leer.

Poe laughed. “Come here, you fiend.”

She stepped up to him and he turned her so he was facing her side. 

“First things first, you need to learn how to float. I’m going to put one hand on your back, and I want you to lean into it and lie back in the water. I’ll put my other hand under your knees to hold you up until you get used to the sensation.”

Rey nodded and trembled slightly as he put his hand on her back.

“Relax. You can trust me.”

“I know,” she said, looking up into his eyes as she leaned back into the water.

Poe looked away to watch his free hand as he carefully put it behind her knees. The skin there was soft and it took a concerted effort to not think about how soft the rest of her skin might be.

“This doesn’t seem too bad,” Rey commented.

“I told you it wouldn’t be. I’m going to move us into deeper water so you can get used to how deeper water affects your body.”

“Okay,” Rey replied, her eyes closed and a smile on her face.

He moved them deeper, until the water was up to his shoulders. “Now put your arms out and spread—” he paused to cough—“and spread your legs a little.”

He let go of her knees as she moved her legs.

“This feels really nice.”

“I’m going to let go of you now, but I am right here.”

She nodded.

He gently pulled his hand away before stepping back from her. “You’re a natural,” he said.

Rey rolled her eyes. “I’m not actually _doing_ anything.”

“You’re not panicking, and that’s something.” He flipped back so he was floating beside her. He closed his eyes and soaked in the sun, his fingers brushing against hers every so often.

“Careful, Dameron. You wouldn’t want to fall asleep. I hear drowning is a terrible way to go.”

“Where did you hear that?” he asked, turning his head slightly to look at her.

She shrugged. “Heard it around the cantina on Jakku. Drunk traders like to talk.”

“You are just full of surprises.”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Before his mind could wander too far into dark, sweaty places that statement could take it, he slipped back onto his feet.

“Well, you’ve handily mastered floating. Let’s go through some basic swimming styles.”

“But this is so nice,” Rey complained, arching her back.

Poe dunked himself under the water.

“Are you okay?” Rey asked when he resurfaced.

“Yeah. I was just getting a little warm. I wanted to dunk under and cool off.”

Rey watched a drop of water run down his jawline and licked her lips. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Before Poe could stop her, she took a deep breath and dropped beneath the surface.

“Rey?” he called a few seconds later. _Relax, relax. She took a deep breath first. She can touch here if she’s on her toes. You can get to her. SHIT! I should have chosen a place where the water was clearer._

“Rey!”

He jolted as something brushed his foot. He then barely had time to take a breath before something tickled the backs of his knees, causing them to buckle, pulling him under the water.

He kicked out and up and resurfaced to the sound of Rey’s laughter.

“What?!” he demanded.

“Oh, I’m sorry! But you should see your face!” she said, standing in water that barely reached her thighs. She was doubled over in laughter.

He stalked over to her and grabbed her by the arms. “You scared the life out of me!”

She sobered quickly, resting her hands on his neck. “I’m sorry. You were just being so serious about everything, and Jess says swimming is supposed to be fun. I wanted you to enjoy yourself.”

“You went about it the entirely wrong way.”

She lifted up onto her toes and pulled his face toward hers, resting their foreheads together. “I’m really sorry,” she whispered.

Poe sighed and pulled her into a hug. “No more scaring me.”

She nodded against his chest.

They stood like that for several moments, until Poe realized there was very little clothing between them and the shot of adrenaline was making his body over-sensitive. He stepped back from her.

“Race you to the other side of the lake?”

She grinned up at him. “You’re on!”

He laughed as she ran past him, diving beneath the surface to get as much of a head start as she could.  
****

They swam for about an hour, Rey showing off the skills Jess had taught her the week before, while Poe had been away on a scouting mission. They finally decided to head back to base when their fingers were pruney.

Poe was very proud of himself for not offering to dry her off. Swimming alongside her and occasionally wrangling with her when they spent a good ten minutes trying to dunk each other had been difficult enough.

“I’m curious,” he began as he finished tucking their wet towels away. “This devious streak of yours, have you always indulged it, or is it because of Jess’s influence?”

Rey laughed as she started up the trail back to the base. “What makes you think it isn’t your influence, Poe?”

“ _I_ wouldn’t have used an offer to teach me something new as a way to prank someone.”

She looked over her shoulder at him. “Don’t be upset. I’ll tell you what, why don’t I make it up to you?”

“Oh, yeah? How’s that?”

She smiled at him before looking back up the trail. “You can teach me about warm baths.”

Poe walked into a tree.

**Author's Note:**

> The end of this fic happened before the rest of it. Because that's how TFA Muses roll, I guess.


End file.
